Sport must not be besmirched

Sport in the good old days was a recreation and an engagement to keep fit. It was a pastime for some while others indulged in sport as an entertainment as well as to socialise.

In Ancient Olympia, the Greeks had different faiths and beliefs in giving birth to Olympics. When it came to modern Olympics too, it was a mere competition at the early stages.

But sport world over has experienced drastic changes after the so-called professionalism was injected. Some of those changes augured well both for the players as well as for the game. Yet, some had negative impact as the undue competitiveness created an unhealthy atmosphere that robbed the true spirit out of sport.

The high level of competitiveness and professionalism generated an atmosphere which had negativerepercussions on the spirit of the game. That has generated rivalry amongst competitors and participating teams. The end result was a mentality to the players to win at any cost.

It's not the win over lose that matters but how one played the game. Extending friendships and strengthening peace and harmony are some of the age old aims and objectives of sport. But do we value those anymore?

We have reasonable doubts after witnessing the unfortunate incidents that took place in the hill capital last week. A rugby match between two leading schools turned out to be a battlefield. As a result several players were injured.

What is the example the younger generation gets? Especially the young schoolboys coming to witness these matches. But what they experience at the end of the day is something bitter.

True well have diehard feeling for our schools and theclub teams we support. But that should be confined to our cheering at matches and friendly debates. If we step out of those boundaries and generate enemies just for the sake of our blind loyalty to those teams, then the basics of sportsmanship would be lost.

Sport is there for the civilised society to strengthen harmony and solidarity. But what happens when we engage in ruthless acts and bodily harm players andofficials? Then it's far better for everybody to give up all sport than turning sports stadia into battlefields.

As we have reiterated, it's the petty club politics that is ruining all sports. The madaffection to their respective clubs, coupled with ulterior motives of some sports officials, generate a mad loyalty to their respective clubs. Then it turns out to be a war than sport as you would like to see the club you are supporting win at any cost. Even the players would go for man to man ratherthan going for the ball. What a pathetic situation?

We are not putting the blame on any party for therecent developments and unfortunate incidents that took place in Kandy. But those should be an eye-openerfor all to take concrete steps to put a permanent halt to unruly incidents of that nature.

Be it the players, spectators or supporters, we all should keep in mind that it's not the winning or losing that matters. What really matters at the end should be the manner in which one plays the game. Fair play awards should be introduced and recognised in order to set a good example to our younger generation.

Officials, coaches and club supporters should leave schoolboys out of the whole scenario. The younger ones should not be used as scapegoats. We should refrain from spoiling the minds of the tender ones. Instead, we must set an example to schoolchildren.

It was unfortunate to not that some of Sri Lanka national players too were involved in these unruly acts. One of the players was arrested in last week's high drama. This is not the behaviour that we expect fromour national players.

Be it in any sport, national level players should be sporting ambassadors. They are the sporting icons andthe younger generation is closely monitoring what they do. Whether it is a good or a bad deed, people are following their sporting heroes. Hence, the national players have an added responsibility.

Over the years, there have been many problems withcrowd behavour at rugby matches in Kandy. True that the Kandy Sports Club have been a household name in Sri Lanka rugby and undisputed champions. There are noarguments on the ability and strength of Kandy SC and it is a positive sign as a team outside Colombo is going great guns.

But the spectators in the hill capital too should behave like champions. If not, it is bad on the champion team. Similarly, Kandy schools have a rich sporting history. Kingswood is the first school to play rugby in Sri Lanka. Trinity has produced manychampion players.

Hence, The supports of the clubs and schools should not tarnish that rich sporting heritage. They must make every endeavor to be an example with their behaviour.